Recaps

Velen forced King Greymane to cooperate with his plan to pressure the Cathedral of Light and expose Benedictus, then took him toward Stormwind. At Menethil Harbor, a mysterious tall figure entered the inn where they were resting.

• Maiwen Anluofu secured Velen a recommendation to see King Greymane, but Velen waited seven days without an audience.
• After learning that crowds had waited for years to see the king, Velen stormed the palace, beat Greymane, and healed him while threatening to repeat the assault for seven days.
• Greymane fled to Dusk Bay Town, but Velen tracked him down and compelled him to agree to travel to Stormwind.
• Velen and Greymane flew to Menethil Harbor to begin a plan to unite nobles against the Cathedral of Light and establish Benedictus's guilt.
• While Greymane cautiously studied Velen at an inn, a tall figure entered with the scent of the sea.

Kel'Thuzad exposed Velen's manipulation and captured Greymane, while Jaina ordered Peace Dove to activate its Holy Light network across Stormwind. The city dismantled the Magic Circles before dawn, and Jaina declared that she would send the Lightforging Orcs to destroy the Kingdom of Stormwind.

• Kel'Thuzad told Greymane that his teacher could have helped prevent Prince Liam's murder, then revealed that Velen was being used by Jaina.
• Velen attacked Kel'Thuzad with Holy Light but fled after his magic proved ineffective, and Greymane agreed to help stop Peace Dove.
• Jaina ordered Peace Dove's branches to begin their operation before dawn, and Maiwen Anluofu rallied the Stormwind leaders to prepare the Magic Circles.
• Peace Dove activated the Circles, creating a vast net of Holy Light over Stormwind and enchanting some members, while guards arrested the conspirators.
• Robbie and Vanessa watched as Stormwind's mages dismantled the Circles before dawn, and Maiwen fled to Booty Bay.
• Jaina said Stormwind had lost its chance at redemption and threatened to send the Lightforging Orcs to destroy the kingdom.

Garrosh followed the Pandaren’s plan to attack the Bael Modan Digsite, hoping to undermine Jaina without confronting her directly. After Jaina tracked down General Tavenblade, he revealed that the site hid a cavern whose curse transformed living creatures into other beings.

• Garrosh took out his anger on his Worg, then learned from the Pandaren that Jaina’s order to attack Stormwind was a trap that could expose him to the unclean Holy Light.
• The Pandaren told Garrosh to seize the Bael Modan Digsite and drive out the Dwarves, knowing Jaina would hear of the raid and investigate.
• Garrosh sent Lightforging Quilboar to attack the digsite, killing more than half the Dwarves as General Tavenblade escaped to Dustwallow Marsh.
• Jaina found Tavenblade in the marsh and questioned him about what the Dwarves had uncovered.
• Tavenblade told Jaina that the Tears of the Moons had turned a worker into a Trogg and that a cavern’s curse had transformed a deer into a young Thunder Lizard.

Garrosh used the Bael Modan Digsite to lure Jaina with a fabricated story about seven-colored Life Crystals while testing the cavern’s power on Quilboar. Jaina entered the cave herself, discovered the deception, and was trapped with a mysterious presence in the mist.

• Garrosh sent Quilboar into the cavern, where they emerged transformed into a Rhinotaur and a Magnataur, and he claimed the cave contained Life Crystals that could change creatures’ forms.
• Garrosh told the Quilboar that collecting gems of all seven colors would preserve their sanity, while secretly feeding Jaina’s spies a false account of the cavern.
• Jaina dismissed Garrosh’s warning and sent two Water Elementals into the cave, but their connection to her vanished.
• Jaina entered the cavern with a Hearthstone and saw gray mist instead of gems, realizing Garrosh had deceived her.
• A voice spoke from the mist, recognized a familiar scent on Jaina, and she found that the cave entrance had disappeared.

Jaina was transformed into a female Pandaren and trapped in an endless cycle of labor and slaughter at a Pandaren breeding farm. After realizing she could not escape alone, she joined the Peace Dove, whose members served Queen Jaina against Taran Zhu.

• Jaina’s magic failed, and a powerful muscular Pandaren transformed her into a vicious-looking female Pandaren and took her to the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
• The muscular Pandaren sent Jaina to the breeding farm and told her to save herself and the Pandaren race.
• Jaina was forced to work as a farmer, beaten by overseers, and repeatedly sent to the slaughterhouse, only to wake again as a Pandaren.
• Jaina realized she was trapped in an endless cycle and despaired over how she could change the Pandaren’s fate.
• A female Pandaren invited Jaina to join the Peace Dove, and its leader announced that the group served Queen Jaina against Taran Zhu.

Jaina took control of a secret Pandaren group, taught its members the Holy Light, and helped them overthrow Taran Zhu, but Garrosh kept the Vale of Eternal Blossoms sealed. She remained trapped and woke to find herself an ordinary farmer again, beginning another cycle.

• Jaina won over the fake Peace Dove members, replaced their overseer, and taught them the Holy Light, growing the group to over five thousand.
• Garrosh learned that several Pandaren carried Holy Light energy and, guided by his mysterious lord, ordered an intensified search for Jaina.
• Jaina sent five thousand members under Jiyun Fengzi to attack Taran Zhu's palace, and Taran Zhu fled when they arrived.
• Garrosh told Jiyun Fengzi that Jaina had authorized the Peace Dove to govern the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, leaving Jaina's escape plan thwarted by the guarded passes.
• Jaina woke to find herself an ordinary farmer again and realized she was still caught in the cycle.

Jaina found that the Pandaren of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms remained trapped in an endless cycle, while Garrosh moved to eliminate Sylvanas by ordering her to attack the Kingdom of Stormwind. After a mysterious black-robed figure intervened, Sylvanas learned she was expected to defeat Garrosh with his help.

• Jaina studied the Pandaren and realized she could not free them from their repeated deaths and forced lives as food.
• Garrosh dismissed Taran Zhu, approved Jiyun Fengzi’s rule over the Vale, and ordered that the kneeling leader be served as food if he fainted.
• Garrosh ordered Sylvanas to lead the Lightforging Centaurs against the Kingdom of Stormwind, and his forces forced her to advance after she tried to delay.
• Sylvanas’s army destroyed the Undead at Raven Hill, but Garrosh’s troops arrived and forced her to continue toward the Kingdom of Stormwind.
• As Sylvanas prepared to flee, a black-robed figure stopped her, revealed that he had chosen Garrosh over her, and offered to help her defeat him.

Sylvanas defeated Garrosh with secret help from the Black-Robed Man, who took Garrosh to the Vale of Eternal Blossoms and trapped him in a Pandaren laborer’s body. After enduring repeated cycles of forced labor and death, Garrosh found Jaina and asked her to help him escape, but she had lost hope.

• Sylvanas led an elite force into Garrosh’s camp, overwhelmed his soldiers, and took control while the Black-Robed Man removed Garrosh.
• The Black-Robed Man sent Garrosh into the Vale of Eternal Blossoms as a Pandaren, where overseers forced him to work under threat of torture and death.
• Garrosh repeatedly died from the brutal conditions and returned as a Pandaren, eventually resigning himself to the farm labor.
• Garrosh recognized Jaina among the workers and visited her at night after she had been sent to the slaughterhouse and returned.
• Garrosh asked Jaina to work with him to escape, but Jaina said she had tried everything and had given up hope.

Garrosh and Jaina burned the granaries in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, hoping hunger would drive the Pandaren to revolt. Sylvanas recalled Taran Zhu to restore order, but his brutal solution left Garrosh and Jaina shaken.

• Garrosh and Jaina decided to burn every granary in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, and Jaina planted delayed-burst Fireballs in them.
• More than a hundred granaries burned, leaving the Pandaren leaderless and hungry as Jiyun Fengzi disappeared.
• The Pandaren prepared to fight their way out of the Vale, but Sylvanas summoned Taran Zhu after hearing of the chaos.
• Taran Zhu proposed blaming Jiyun Fengzi and forcing half the Pandaren to die by lottery, and Sylvanas agreed to restore him as their leader if he succeeded.
• Taran Zhu returned, executed a man presented as Jiyun Fengzi, and sent those who drew death into the slaughterhouse.
• Garrosh and Jaina watched the Pandaren accept Taran Zhu's plan, and Garrosh's confidence faltered.

Garrosh was served as food at Sylvanas's banquet, where she negotiated with Saurfang and Zul'jin over the Ogres' entry into Azeroth and the Tauren's fate. After Rom Wildtotem betrayed Magatha and Sylvanas imprisoned her, Saurfang offered a way to cure the Blood Elves' Mana Addiction, leaving Sylvanas to consider the Ogres' proposal.

• An overseer told Garrosh he had been chosen as food for Sylvanas's honored guests, and he seized the chance to bathe before being served alive.
• Saurfang and Zul'jin arrived, and Saurfang bit off Garrosh's right hand before Sylvanas joined the banquet.
• Saurfang asked Sylvanas to let Imperator Mar'gok move Highmaul through Theramore toward Lordaeron, while Zul'jin said Durotan's clans were also entering Azeroth.
• Magatha rejected Sylvanas's demand that the Tauren become food, but Rom Wildtotem sided with Sylvanas and helped her have Magatha arrested.
• Sylvanas offered to open the Holy Light's Gate and supply meat if Imperator Mar'gok was sincere, and Saurfang promised an alliance and a cure for Mana Addiction.
• Zul'jin explained that Ogres had discovered an antidote to Mana Addiction through their research on Draenei, and Sylvanas doubted the claim.

Sylvanas accepted Saurfang’s offer to help kill Zul'jin in exchange for a Highmaul Magic Gem containing research on Holy Light magic. Zul'jin escaped an assassination attempt in Orgrimmar using a voodoo double, only to encounter a Black-Robed Man.

• Sylvanas refused to help the Blood Elves for free, and Saurfang left with Zul'jin after overturning the table.
• Saurfang secretly visited Sylvanas and explained that uncontrolled Holy Light had transformed Nagrand’s creatures and made the pyramid at Oshu'gun indestructible.
• Saurfang offered Sylvanas a Magic Gem with Highmaul research on Holy Light magic in exchange for help killing Zul'jin, and she agreed.
• Zul'jin sensed danger, created a voodoo double, and hid as a rat while Sylvanas and Saurfang’s forces attacked the residence.
• Sylvanas struck the double with a Holy Light arrow, and Saurfang cut it in two while the real Zul'jin escaped through the tunnels.
• Zul'jin returned to his original form and encountered a Black-Robed Man who asked whether he was the leader of the Zul'Aman Empire.

The Black-Robed Man forced Zul'jin to reveal how he rose to power by serving Rat God Jerry, then sent him to the Vale of Eternal Blossoms as a Pandaren to repeat his success with the August Celestials' support. Zul'jin began work as an herbal doctor and suspected that the woman brought to him was Jaina.

• The Black-Robed Man turned Zul'jin into a rat and threatened him until he confessed that his real name was Ethan and he had become a fraudulent herbal doctor after deserting the army.
• Zul'jin explained that he had helped a wounded Rat God Jerry lure Trolls to be devoured, and that Jerry's support helped him overthrow the king and become leader of the Trolls of Zul'Aman.
• The Black-Robed Man decided Zul'jin could build support among the Pandaren and promised him the backing of the August Celestials.
• The Black-Robed Man carried Zul'jin to the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, where Zul'jin fell as a rat and woke as a Pandaren herbal doctor.
• An overseer brought a woman to Zul'jin for treatment, and Zul'jin suspected she was Jaina after recognizing profound magical knowledge in her rambling.

Zul'jin tried to build a Pandaren resistance through faith in the August Celestials, but Sylvanas turned the people against them and his followers tore him apart. After resurrecting, he watched another Pandaren suffer and admitted he was powerless to help.

• Zul'jin convinced the overseers to leave Jaina in his care, and Jaina rejected his plan to recruit sick Pandaren because ordinary people were disposed of immediately.
• Zul'jin enlisted Jaina and Garrosh, presented himself as an emissary of the August Celestials, and gathered more than ten thousand followers into the Mutual Aid Society.
• Taran Zhu repeatedly tried to kill Zul'jin, but Zul'jin resurrected each time and gained enough prestige to threaten Taran Zhu's rule.
• Taran Zhu sought Sylvanas's advice, and she told him to deal with the root of the problem rather than keep killing Zul'jin.
• Sylvanas convinced the Pandaren that the August Celestials were evil gods, and the people turned on Zul'jin and tore him apart.
• Zul'jin resurrected beside a tree, watched an overseer whip a Pandaren, and lamented that he was powerless to help.

Jaina revealed that she had contacted Chen Stormstout and urged Garrosh and Zul'jin to help him challenge Taran Zhu's rule. Chen learned the New Lightforged Orcs' weaknesses from Xuen, while Taran Zhu learned of Chen's growing force and began training an elite Chi army.

• Jaina told Garrosh and Zul'jin that she had used a magic circle to contact the outside and learned that Chen Stormstout had gathered five thousand fighters.
• Jaina, Garrosh, and Zul'jin discussed how Chen could exploit the New Lightforged Orcs' weaknesses, while Jaina warned that Chen might become another Taran Zhu.
• Jaina asked Zul'jin for the August Celestials' help so Chen and Taran Zhu would be forced into a lasting balance of power.
• Chen Stormstout struggled to feed his force at One Keg and, after failing to persuade Lorewalker Cho, received instruction from Xuen on the New Lightforged Orcs' rigid fighting style.
• Taran Zhu received a secret letter about Chen's force and its knowledge of the Orcs' weaknesses, then resolved to train an elite force in Chi.

Taran Zhu prepared an army to stop Chen Stormstout, but Chen captured the Gate of the Deity through a surprise attack and advanced into the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. At the Emperor's Reach, the two leaders fought for control, and Taran Zhu revealed the Power of the Holy Light after his Chi ran out.

• Taran Zhu used poisoned Sha-fragment soup to give three thousand overseers Chi and trained them to defend the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
• Chen Stormstout killed the New Lightforged Orcs' commanding general and captured the Gate of the Deity without losing a soldier.
• Chen left a thousand Pandaren at the gate and led four thousand onward, while Taran Zhu assembled the overseers and farmers at the Emperor's Reach.
• Chen Stormout challenged Taran Zhu to a duel, with the winner to lead the Pandaren of the Vale and the loser to leave Pandaria forever.
• Chen Stormstout wore Taran Zhu down with his elemental avatars and Drunken Master Fist, but Taran Zhu revealed his Holy Light power and declared Chen defeated.

Chen Stormstout defeated Taran Zhu with the help of a golden-armored giant, then revealed he had betrayed Taran Zhu’s daughter, driving Taran Zhu to collapse. Niuzao revived and healed Taran Zhu, and after both armies withdrew, Taran Zhu vowed revenge on Chen Stormstout and every enemy of the Pandaren.

• Taran Zhu summoned a giant forged from the Holy Light souls of five thousand Pandaren, and it wounded Chen Stormstout during their fight.
• Chen Stormstout confessed that he had captured Taran Zhu’s daughter and handed her to Vol’jin, who sent her to Thrall to be eaten; Taran Zhu collapsed in shock.
• Jaina urged Zul'jin to call on the August Celestials, and Niuzao possessed Taran Zhu, healing him and restoring his strength.
• Chen Stormstout and Taran Zhu broke off the fight and ordered their forces to withdraw and make camp.
• Taran Zhu questioned a drunken Pandaren overseer about the Pandaren’s cowardice, then swore to avenge his daughter and punish the enemies of the Pandaren.

Driven by revenge and the Pandaren’s peril, Taran Zhu sought the Sha of Pride in a hidden underground palace and was confronted with a vision of his daughter and village being destroyed. The Sha of Pride offered him as many Sha Fragments as he wanted but withheld guidance until Taran Zhu learned to let go of his hatred.

• Taran Zhu decided to seek the Sha of Pride in the Mogu ruins, hoping to obtain Sha Fragments and save the Pandaren.
• Taran Zhu entered the underground palace, where Norushen criticized the Pandaren for hoarding the secret of Chi and warned that their people faced extinction.
• Taran Zhu passed into a vision of his daughter and village being attacked by Orcs, and he collapsed in helpless grief.
• The Sha of Pride appeared, mocked Taran Zhu and Shaohao, and offered him Sha Fragments while insisting that hatred would not save the Pandaren.
• The Sha of Pride told Taran Zhu to take the fragments he needed and promised guidance after he learned to release his hatred.

Taran Zhu seized Halfhill and used the Orcs captured there to persuade the Pandaren to overcome their fear and accept them as food. Meanwhile, Chen Stormstout sought Xuen's support against Taran Zhu, and Sylvanas's negotiations with the Ogre Empire reached an impasse.

• Taran Zhu gave Sha fragments to the Pandaren of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, awakening Chi in more than two hundred thousand of them.
• Xuen appeared to Chen Stormstout and ordered him to seek Sha fragments from the Sha of Anger to match Taran Zhu's growing forces.
• Taran Zhu realized the Pandaren feud only benefited Sylvanas and led an elite force in a surprise attack on Halfhill.
• Taran Zhu's forces killed Halfhill's commander and brought many New Lightforged Orcs back to the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
• Taran Zhu killed an Orc publicly and urged the Pandaren to reject their fear, then had cooks prepare Orc broth for them to drink.
• Sylvanas's negotiations with Imperator Mar'gok stalled over the Titan ruins, and her quill suddenly snapped.

Sylvanas discovered that Halfhill had gone silent and learned that Taran Zhu and Chen Stormstout were preparing for war after both sides of Pandaren gained Chi. After Khadgar investigated the conflict, Sylvanas ordered him to secure Chen’s cooperation against Taran Zhu.

• Sylvanas sent Centaur scouts to Halfhill, learned that powerful Pandaren had attacked them, and demanded that Saurfang the Great bring Antonidas to assist her.
• Chen Stormstout asked the Sha of Anger for Sha Fragments, then gave them to Pandaren from the Vale of Eternal Blossoms so they could gain Chi.
• Taran Zhu built fortresses and trenches while Chen Stormstout worried that he lacked the New Lightforged Orcs’ logistical support.
• Khadgar opened a Portal to Pandaria and sent scouts to assess the situation, learning that the two Pandaren forces were evenly matched.
• Sylvanas ordered Khadgar to meet Chen Stormstout and arrange an alliance against Taran Zhu.

Saurfang tried to intimidate Chen Stormstout, but Khadgar exposed his bluff and helped Chen defeat him. Khadgar and Chen plotted to capture Sylvanas and seize the Warchief’s position, while Sylvanas recognized the trap and agreed to enter the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.

• Saurfang visited Chen Stormstout and threatened him with the supposed power of the Army of the Light.
• Khadgar secretly warned Chen that Saurfang was lying, and Chen beat Saurfang, broke his limbs, and made him his captive.
• Khadgar urged Chen to seize the Warchief’s position and offered to help him capture Sylvanas in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
• Chen agreed to cooperate with Khadgar, who promised to bring an expert from Highmaul to ensure their plan succeeded.
• Khadgar told Sylvanas that Chen wanted her to lead troops into the Vale, and she agreed, suspecting Chen intended to replace her.

Sylvanas and Khadgar arranged a mass teleport to the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, where Chen Stormstout challenged her rule through a staged tasting and demanded that she step down. Chen revealed that he had recognized Sylvanas’s mastery of Undead magic, while less than half her army had arrived.

• Khadgar helped Sylvanas build a permanent Teleportation Array and explained that arriving troops would be briefly dizzy after teleporting.
• Sylvanas led a thousand guards through the array, where Chen Stormstout greeted her and denied plotting to replace her.
• Sylvanas sent lightforging Tauren and Troll chefs to prepare beef, but Chen criticized the sauce and cooking method.
• Sylvanas killed the Troll chefs after Chen’s criticism, and Chen accused her of ruling through bloodshed and demanded that she step down.
• Sylvanas asked why Chen had not attacked her after she teleported, and Chen said he knew she had become more proficient in Undead magic.

Sylvanas revealed her death powers and overwhelmed Chen Stormstout and Khadgar, then raised the Restless Souls buried beneath the Vale of Eternal Blossoms to transform into a giant Banshee. As she absorbed the souls, Khadgar summoned Tectus, a towering being mutated by Holy Light, to face her.

• Sylvanas shed her Holy Light disguise, and Khadgar joined Chen Stormstout to attack her.
• Sylvanas corrupted Chen Stormstout’s elemental clones and unleashed a Banshee Scream, but Chen survived by replacing their power with Holy Light.
• Khadgar and Chen Stormstout struck Sylvanas with a spell and the Golden Armored Giant, but she survived and seized Chen with a smoke-like arm.
• Chen Stormstout summoned Chi from the Sha of Anger cloud and grew to fight beside the Golden Armored Giant, while Khadgar recognized his power was nearing Unity of Heaven and Humanity.
• Sylvanas raised the Restless Souls buried across the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, transformed into a giant Banshee, and shattered the Golden Armored Giant.
• Khadgar tore open a scroll and summoned Tectus, a towering embodiment of chaos mutated by Holy Light.

Sylvanas transformed into a monstrous being by combining Holy Light and death, and trapped Tectus by cutting him off from outside power. Khadgar summoned High Counselor Valrego and Kelage, whose Titan-forged Holy Light arms tore apart Sylvanas’s new body, but Sylvanas returned to her original form, still confident.

• Sylvanas grew to enormous size and used Xal'atath, Blade of the Black Empire, to split Tectus into countless golden stones.
• Sylvanas sacrificed tens of thousands of Lightforging Centaurs, Tauren, and Quilboar to create a giant body that wielded Holy Light and death separately.
• Sylvanas’s tentacles enveloped Tectus and cut him off from the Holy Light he needed to stay together.
• Khadgar summoned High Counselor Valrego and Kelage, the magic-immune Ogre who could absorb Holy Light.
• Kelage formed enormous golden Titan arms and tore Sylvanas’s Old God body apart, forcing her dark aura to gather back into her original form.
• Valrego called Sylvanas pathetically weak, while Sylvanas calmly dusted herself off and remained confident.

Tirion Fordring arrived with a hundred Holy Dragons and overwhelmed Kelage and Tectus, forcing Valrego to flee while Chen Stormstout became trapped by Sylvanas. As Tirion faced Chen, Garrosh hinted that someone Tirion feared most might still turn the battle around.

• Khadgar recognized Tirion Fordring as he led a hundred Holy Dragons into battle against Sylvanas's forces.
• The Holy Dragons broke Valrego's No-Fly spell and fused into one enormous dragon to fight Kelage, but Kelage and Tectus joined forces and brought it down.
• Khadgar warned Chen Stormstout that Tirion had not used his full strength, while Valrego prepared Blood Sacrifice Fate to preserve Kelage and Tectus's souls.
• Tirion transformed into Holy Light, destroyed Kelage and Tectus from within, and drove Valrego to vanish from the battlefield.
• Khadgar gave Chen a Teleportation Scroll, but Sylvanas's arrow had locked onto Chen and prevented his escape as Tirion confronted him.
• Jaina lamented that their efforts had failed, while Garrosh said they had not reached the most desperate moment and asked whether she remembered whom Tirion feared most.

Chen Stormstout used Chi-Ji’s illusion of Eitrigg to defeat Tirion Fordring and led the Pandaren in killing Sylvanas, but Jaina, Garrosh, and Zul'jin remained trapped because Chen’s rise upset the balance of power. They found Sylvanas resurrected in a tomb and planned to use her connections to ally Taran Zhu with Amado; Sylvanas then learned that Taran Zhu had sent the three Pandaren.

• Chen Stormstout used Chi-Ji’s Illusion Power to make Tirion Fordring see Eitrigg, causing the Holy Dragon to flee in terror.
• Chen Stormstout attacked Sylvanas, and the Pandaren killed her before he declared that the Pandaren had risen.
• Jaina, Garrosh, and Zul'jin realized they were still trapped because Chen Stormstout’s victory had disrupted the balance between the factions.
• Zul'jin revealed that Sylvanas had resurrected in a nearby tomb, and Jaina proposed using her connections to bring Taran Zhu and Amado together.
• Sylvanas crawled from her coffin and learned from a female Pandaren that Taran Zhu had sent the group.